Preparations underway for NZ enduro
Young Nelson rider Sophie Vincent hopes local trail knowledge may give her an edge.<em> Photo: Supplied.</em>
You can’t beat a good dress rehearsal before the main event, whether competitors or promoters.
The sixth annual Cable Bay Junior Enduro certainly provided that for young mountain bike riders, and Jess and Loui Harvey, who are preparing to stage the NZ Enduro MTB Nationals at the same venue at the end of the month.
"We worked really hard initially to get the nationals to Cable Bay Adventure Park and now we are staging them for the third year in a row,” says Loui, who is expecting more than 200 entries across elite and age grade sections.
“The junior enduro gave us a bit of the practice run so we are pretty sorted now.”
The Harveys have been heavily involved in the trail building network since returning from competing in the enduro world series in 2017-18.
Jess is an event manager and personal trainer while Loui is a teacher at Nelson Intermediate and has helped develop some very promising young cyclists.
“There’s a really good group of girls coming through.”
They have progressed to Nelson College for Girls and dominated the U15 Cable Bay Junior Enduro.
One of them, 13-year-old Sophie Vincent, is hoping to improve on her third place at the secondary school nationals in Christchurch last year.
“We don’t know the exact trails yet for the champs, but I know them pretty well and that could give me a bit of an edge,” declares Sophie.
She’s been riding as long as she can remember, and her Tineli top is a bit of a giveaway.
Her parents founded the cycle clothing company more than 20 years ago and it is still going strong, worldwide, from its Nelson base.
“BMX riding is fun as you just get to go fast,” enthuses Sophie. As for breaking her knee in Christchurch last year, she was only out of action for a couple of months. The U15’s will compete on 1 March before the elite hit the trails.